Criminal Justice
Grandma, 85, Chases and Helps Catch Alleged Thief
Posted Sep 13, 2007, 09:21 am CST
By Martha Neil
A purse-snatcher picked the wrong victim when he allegedly stole Marta Suarez' handbag yesterday in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami.
The 85-year-old victim, a former Cuban track star in the 1930s, took off after Ivan Lavar Edwards, 29, and was reportedly gaining on him as she chased him into the path of a city police officer, the Miami Herald says. Officer Wilfredo Perez then took up the chase in his patrol car, as Edwards drove off in his own car. He both captured the suspect and retrieved Suarez' purse, containing $300, which Edwards allegedly tossed out the car window during the pursuit.
Suarez called Perez her hero and hugged him after the arrest. ''You are the hero,'' Perez told her. "But next time, be careful.''